Oppel, K. (2015). The Nest. NY: Simon & Schuster.
In The Nest, we are introduced to Steve, who just became and older brother for the second time. The family is stressed and nervous over the major health concerns the baby was with. He is diagnosed with an unspecified congenital condition and needs an operation. Steve overhears his parents discussing whether the baby will ever be “normal”. This is when the wasps arrive and make a nest on the side of Steve’s house, which is very frightening to him since he is allergic to them. Steve starts becoming more and more disturbed as he dreams of these wasps and their queen. These dreams begin to blur between reality and fantasy and soon it is unclear what is real any more. He develops the ability to speak to the queen of the wasp and she promises to replace the ailing baby with a new one. While Steve initially agrees to this he soon realizes that his brother is while he brother is ill, he is a loved and valued member of the family and he wouldn't replace him for anyone else.
This book is very dark and creepy. It goes between fantasy and reality, and at times you are unsure if what happening is real. It is a thriller and scary story for a middle school audience but I found it frightening as well. Having a dislike for insects also added to the creepy feeling I had while reading this book. Under this strange story though, emerged the theme of family acceptance. It seems as if Steve may have had undiagnosed neuroses which caused him to be obsessive about the wasp and his acceptance of his brother’s imperfections was almost like acceptance of his own as well.
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